Toothbrush head and method for producing the same

ABSTRACT

A toothbrush head including multiple elastic cleaning elements attached to a holder in clusters. Each elastic cleaning element includes film strips, which can be manufactured, for example, from a sheet of film.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is the National Stage of International Application No. PCT/EP2006/005404, filed Jun. 7, 2006, which claims the benefit of German Application Serial No. 102005027981.3, filed on Jun. 16, 2005. The contents of both applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to toothbrush heads and methods for manufacturing toothbrush heads.

BACKGROUND

In certain types of toothbrush heads, individual filaments and/or bristles are combined into clusters and attached to the cleaning element holder of the toothbrush head in the form of bristle clusters. This can be accomplished by a so-called anchor tamping method in which the bristles are arranged in a U shape, with an anchor plate inserted between the legs of the bristles. The cluster of bristles is then tamped into a hole in the cleaning element holder, with the anchor plate being inserted across the bristles extending into the recess so that it is anchored on the walls thereof and holds the bristles in the recess.

In alternative types of toothbrush heads, clusters of bristles are cast in the cleaning element holder, which is produced by injection molding of plastic. The bristle clusters are introduced into the injection mold so that ends of the bristle clusters are cast in the plastic of the injection molded element holder.

Certain methods of manufacturing the toothbrushes, wherein filaments that function as bristles are first glued and/or welded by their base sections onto a strip in series one after the other have been disclosed in the prior art. By rolling up the strip with the bristles attached to it, a bristle cluster is created. The bristle cluster is then attached to a bristle holder. By aligning solid fixed bristles of different lengths and/or different strengths one after the other, it is possible to achieve targeted properties of the resulting bristle cluster.

With each of these toothbrush heads, it is difficult to impart directional mechanical properties to the bristles, i.e., the clusters of bristles. In particular the mechanical properties of the bristles themselves cannot be altered in a directionally oriented manner. In addition, the bristle clusters of each of these toothbrush heads can be trimmed to only a limited number of shapes.

SUMMARY

In one aspect of the invention, a toothbrush head includes a holder, multiple cleaning elements attached to the holder in the form of a cluster, each cleaning element including a plurality of film strips. The film strips are manufactured from a film sheet by a shaping method that separates the strips. Desired mechanical properties, in particular directional properties can be imparted to such film strips through a suitable choice of the starting film (e.g., choice of thickness, material composition, and geometric shape). It is thus possible to impart different mechanical properties such as bending strength, elasticity, restoring force, bending curve, etc., to the film strips, so that the properties are different in different directions across the longitudinal axis of the strips. Film strips with directional properties can be used, for example, to apply greater forces to dental plaque in one direction when cleaning the teeth while allowing smaller forces to be generated in another direction to avoid injury to, and instead massage, the gingiva and the oral mucosa.

In some embodiments, a thin film material is used as the starting material for manufacturing the film strips, and a shape is imparted to the film strips (e.g., by cutting the film strips). For example, the individual cleaning elements can have a rectangular cross section, the length of which is a multiple of its width. A film with a thickness in the range of 10 μm to 500 μm (e.g., approximately 50 μm to 250 μm) may be used as the starting material. The film strips can be manufactured from such a film such that a strip width is at least ten times (e.g., at least fifty times) the thickness of the film. For example, film strips with a strip width of 1 mm to 5 mm may be manufactured in this way.

Cleaning elements including film strips (e.g., film strips including rectangular cross section having a high ratio of length to width) can improve application of toothpaste to the teeth to be cleaned. For example, the film strips can allow the toothpaste and abrasive elements of the toothpaste to remain on the head of the cleaning element cluster better and for a longer period of time, thereby having a positive effect on the removal of dental plaque.

In some embodiments, the method of fabricating the film strips from a film sheet includes various cutting methods of shaping. In some embodiments, for example, the film strips are punched out of the film sheet. This can help to realize high processing speeds and to make a variety of different geometric shapes (e.g., complicated head shapes) possible for the film strips.

In certain embodiments, cutting methods such as laser cutting are used in the fabrication of the film strips. Cutting tools can help to create individual cleaning elements (e.g., in the form of film strips) from a starting film that is originally cohesive. This method can simplify the manufacturing process.

In some embodiments, the cleaning elements include heads that work on the dental surface. In certain embodiments, the heads of the film strips can include shapes (e.g., several tips) to improve the cleaning effect of the individual cleaning.

In some embodiments, the cleaning elements are manufactured from a plastic film. In certain embodiments, the individual cleaning elements are manufactured from a multilayer film to vary the properties of the individual cleaning elements. Such a construction can, for example, improve vibrational properties of the individual cleaning elements. In certain embodiments, different materials, such as different plastic layers, can be combined (e.g., joined together) to form a multilayer laminated film. In certain embodiments, the cleaning elements are formed from a mixture of a plastic and another non-plastic material, e.g., a mixed film of paper and plastic, forming a plastic-paper blend laminate. The paper portion of cleaning elements made from plastic-paper blends can be adjusted. Additionally or alternatively, the paper portion of the plastic-paper blends can absorb different fluids, e.g., water. In some embodiments, liquid or liquid-soluble applicator substances are introduced into the paper so that the applicator substances are released in the mouth during use. The paper portion of cleaning elements made from plastic-paper blends can allow introduction of chemotherapeutic substances at the site where these substances should be active (e.g., directly on the tooth or on the gingiva). Cleaning elements made from plastic-paper blends can allow the introduction of various applicator substances, e.g., flavoring substances, antibacterial agents, circulation-enhancing applicators, etc.

In some embodiments, applicator substances are applied to the film strips by means of a surface coating. The application of applicator substances to films is simpler than applying applicator substances to individual filaments and/or bristles.

In some embodiments, the film strips are arranged individually on the cleaning element holder and attached thereto. In certain embodiments, the cleaning elements are combined into clusters and attached in cluster form jointly to the cleaning element holder. At least some of the cleaning elements can be combined into a cluster by joining together the bases of the cleaning elements. In some embodiments, multiple cleaning elements are formed into one integral piece with an interconnected base, whereby the interconnected base is attached to the cleaning element holder.

In another aspect of the invention, a method of manufacturing a toothbrush head includes combining a plurality of elongated elastic cleaning elements into clusters, attaching the clusters to a holder such that the elastic cleaning elements protrude away from the holder, and forming the cleaning elements from a plurality of film strips cut from at least one film sheet.

In some embodiments, the film strips are interconnected at their base by a ribbon-like strip. By folding and/or rolling up the ribbon-like base of this film blank, i.e., punched part, with the film strips arranged on it, it is possible to form a cluster of film strips which can then be attached to the cleaning element holder, optionally after being combined with other film strips or other film strip clusters.

In certain embodiments, the film strip clusters are formed by stacking several such film strips joined by a common base, one on top of the other and joining (e.g., by adhesive bonding, heating with infrared light or welding) the stacked base sections. In certain embodiments, film strips made of different starting films with different material properties are stacked together to control the properties of the film strip cluster in a targeted manner. In certain embodiments, film strips with different geometries and/or alignments are stacked to control the mechanical properties of the resulting film strip cluster. For example, film strip ribbons with film strips inclined to the left may be stacked in alternation above film strip ribbons with film strips inclined toward the right to result in a high flexural strength in both directions of cleaning. Alternatively or additionally, the individual film strip rows are arranged so they are offset with respect to rows stacked above them, resulting in a very dense arrangement of cleaning elements. Additionally or alternatively, film strips of different heights and/or different widths and/or different thicknesses are stacked on one another.

The film strips can be fastened together in various ways to form film strip clusters on the cleaning element holder. In some embodiments, the film strips are tamped at the base into a recess in the cleaning element holder where they are anchored by an anchor element extending across the base section of the respective film strip. In certain embodiments, the corresponding anchor element is injected into the cleaning element holder so that its end sections extend into the walls of the cleaning element holder surrounding the recess and are secured thereto. In certain embodiments, the anchor element extends across the strip-shaped base section of the film strip row.

In some embodiments, the film strips are integrally bonded to the cleaning element holder (e.g., integrally cast therein). In certain embodiments, the base sections of film strips that are combined to form film strip clusters are introduced into the corresponding injection mold before the cleaning element holder is produced by injection molding. When the base sections are introduced into the injection mold before the cleaning element holder is produced by injection molding, the material introduced into the injection mold surrounds the base sections of the film strips so that they are integrally cast. In certain embodiments, recesses are introduced into the base sections of the film strips that are to be integrally cast so that these recesses are filled with the casting material when casting in the cleaning element holder, thereby establishing a formfitting connection in addition to the integral bond and/or the non-positive connection. Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, from the drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a toothbrush head including cleaning strips in the form of film strips.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the toothbrush head from FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of a toothbrush head including cleaning elements in the form of film strips.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the toothbrush head of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of a toothbrush head including cleaning strips in the form of film strips.

FIG. 6 is a top view of the toothbrush head of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a schematic side view of a toothbrush head including cleaning strips in the form of film strips.

FIG. 8 is a top view of the toothbrush head of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a schematic side view of a toothbrush head including cleaning strips in the form of film strips.

FIG. 10 is a top view of the toothbrush head of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a toothbrush that includes the toothbrush head of FIG. 1.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a film strip blank for forming a cleaning element cluster of a toothbrush head.

FIG. 13 is a schematic perspective view of a cleaning element cluster formed from several film strip rows stacked one above the other.

FIG. 14 is a detail view from above of a toothbrush head including individual film strips in cleaning element clusters.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a toothbrush head 1 includes a cleaning element holder 2, and a plurality of elongated cleaning elements 3, shaped like bristles. The cleaning elements 3 are attached to and protrude away from the cleaning element holder 2. In some embodiments, the cleaning element holder 2 is made of plastic by injection molding.

At least some of the cleaning elements 3 include film strips 4 attached at their base to the cleaning element holder 2 and protruding away from the cleaning element holder 2. The film strips 4 are elastic and, due to their geometric shape and material structure, exhibit mechanical properties that are different in different directions.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, film strips 4 combine to form cleaning element clusters 5, 6, 7. One cleaning element cluster 5 includes film strips 4 inclined toward the head of the toothbrush, a cleaning element cluster 6 arranged centrally includes film strips 4 protruding at a right angle away from the cleaning element holder 2, and a cleaning element cluster 7 includes film strips 4 inclined toward the handle 8 of the toothbrush. As shown in FIG. 2, toothbrush head 1 includes four rows 9, 10, 11, and 12 of cleaning element clusters. Each row 9, 10, 11 and 12 includes the cleaning element clusters 5, 6, and 7, which have different angles of inclination.

Referring to FIG. 12, each cleaning element cluster 5, 6, 7 includes a film strip composite 13. Each film strip composite 13 includes a plurality of aligned film strips 4 joined together integrally in one piece at base section 14. The film strip composite 13 forms a substantially comb-like structure with a plurality of film strips 4 protruding away from the base section 14. Each cleaning element cluster 5, 6, 7 includes film strip composites 13 stacked one atop the other, as shown in FIG. 13 as an example.

The film strip composites 13 can be manufactured by punching or cutting a film sheet that serves as the starting material. The film sheets can be any of various different materials e.g., multilayer laminated films comprising plastic layers and paper layers.

Film strip composites 13 can be joined together, for example, by adhesive bonding or by integral bonding through welding. Alternatively or additionally, the film strip composite 13 can be folded or wound up, so that several film strips 4 come to lie one above the other. Then film strips 4 having the same geometric shapes may be placed one above the other in various ways so that they coincide and/or film strips having the same geometric shape may be stacked one above the other such that they are offset in relation to one another in the longitudinal direction of the base section 14 and/or in the longitudinal direction of the film strips 4. Alternatively or additionally, film strips 4 having different geometric shapes may be stacked one above the other. It is likewise possible to stack film strips 4 having different material properties to form at least one cleaning element cluster 5, 6, or 7 having different mechanical properties in different directions.

After the film strips 4 have been stacked one above the other and joined together the film strips 4 are attached to the cleaning element holder 2, e.g., by integral casting, injection molding or anchor tamping.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, the film strips 4 of each individual cleaning element cluster 5, 6 and 7 are each stacked one above the other so they coincide. The film strips 4 in each respective cleaning element cluster 5, 6, or 7 are designed to be geometrically similar to one another and are stacked one above the other so they coincide. As shown in FIG. 2, three film strip composites 13 may be stacked one above the other per cleaning element cluster 5, 6 or 7. As shown in FIG. 1, the film strips 4 include two tips 15 and 16 on their free end, thus making it possible to tangibly improve the cleaning effect.

While certain embodiments have been described, other embodiments are possible.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, all the film strips 4 are combined into a single cleaning element cluster 5. The film strips 4 of different geometries are stacked in an offset relation to one another. As shown in FIG. 3, the film strips 4 differ in length. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, the film strips 4 are arranged so they are offset in relation to one another in the longitudinal direction of the film strip composites 13.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the toothbrush head 1 includes cleaning element clusters 5, 6 and 7 that are on the outside of cleaning element holder 2, each forming rows 9 and 10 (see FIG. 6). Bristles 17 are attached to the cleaning element holder 2 between these two rows 9 and 10.

The cleaning element clusters 5, 6 and 7 comprise film strips 4 including different geometric shapes. Additionally or alternatively, cleaning element clusters 5, 6, and 7 include different material properties. In the cleaning element cluster 5 arranged near the head of the cleaning element holder 2, the film strips 4 are curved toward the head of the toothbrush. The cleaning element cluster 6 is arranged at the center of the cleaning element holder 2 and includes film strips 4 of a small width protruding at a right angle to the cleaning element holder 2 (see FIG. 5). The film strips 4 arranged toward the handle of the toothbrush and forming the cleaning element cluster 7, are wider than the film strips 4 forming cleaning element cluster 6. Furthermore, the film strips 4 forming cluster 7 each include multiple tips 15, 16.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the cleaning element clusters 5 are arranged in a star pattern on the cleaning element holder 2, each cluster 5 having a substantially rectangular cross section. The bristles 17 is arranged at the center of the star-shaped arrangement of cleaning element clusters 5. As shown in FIG. 7, the cleaning elements 3 formed by film strips 4 can be shorter than the bristles 17.

Any of various shapes can be imparted to the film strips 4 by punching the film strips 4 out of plastic or laminated film. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the cleaning element cluster 5 situated at the head of the cleaning element holder 2 includes film strips 4 having a zigzag contour. The cleaning element cluster 6 is arranged facing the handle 8 and includes film strips 4 that taper toward the tip in a substantially volcano shape. As shown in FIG. 10, multiple film strip composites 13 are stacked one above the other. 

1-34. (canceled)
 35. A toothbrush head including a holder; and a plurality of elastic cleaning elements attached to the holder in a cluster, each elastic cleaning element including a plurality of film strips.
 36. The toothbrush head of claim 35, wherein each of the plurality of cleaning elements includes a substantially rectangular cross section.
 37. The toothbrush head of claim 35, wherein each of the plurality of film strips has a thickness between 10 μm and 500 μm.
 38. The toothbrush head of claim 35, wherein the width of each of the plurality of film strips is at least ten times the thickness of each corresponding film strip.
 39. The toothbrush head of claim 35, wherein at least one of the plurality of cleaning elements is made of plastic film.
 40. The toothbrush head of claim 35, wherein at least one of the plurality of cleaning elements is formed from a mixture of plastic and a non-plastic material.
 41. The toothbrush head of claim 35, wherein at least one of the plurality of cleaning elements comprises a multilayer laminated film.
 42. The toothbrush head of claim 35, wherein each of the plurality of film strips comprises at least one applicator substance.
 43. The toothbrush head of claim 35, wherein each of the plurality of film strips comprises a surface coating containing at least one applicator substance.
 44. The toothbrush head of claim 35, wherein each of the plurality of cleaning elements differ in one or lore mechanical properties along different transverse directions.
 45. The toothbrush head of claim 35, wherein each of the plurality of cleaning elements comprises a corresponding plurality of tips.
 46. The toothbrush head of claim 35, wherein the plurality of cleaning elements are joined together on a base section.
 47. The toothbrush head of claim 35, wherein film strips of different materials are combined to form a film strip cluster.
 48. The toothbrush head of claim 35, wherein bristles arc arranged next to the cleaning elements.
 49. The toothbrush head of claim 35, wherein the plurality of film strips are arranged to form a plurality of film strip composites.
 50. The toothbrush head of claim 49, wherein the plurality of film strips is arranged in rows to form the plurality of film strip composites.
 51. A method of manufacturing a toothbrush head comprising: forming a plurality of elongated elements from a plurality of film strips; combining the plurality of elongated elastic cleaning elements into clusters; and attaching the clusters to a holder, the elongated cleaning elements protruding away from the holder.
 52. The method of claim 51, further comprising separating at least some of the plurality of film strips from at least one film sheet.
 53. The method of claim 52, wherein at least some of the plurality of film strips are at least partially punched from the at least one film sheet.
 54. The method of claim 52, wherein at least some of the plurality of film strips are laser cut from the at least one film sheet.
 55. The method of claim 52, further comprising applying a surface coating containing at least one applicator substance to the at least one film sheet before the film strips are separated from the at least one film sheet.
 56. The method of claim 52, further comprising introducing at least one applicator substance into the at least one film sheet.
 57. The method of claim 51, wherein forming the cleaning elements from the film strips comprises stacking the film strips one above the other.
 58. The method of claim 57, wherein at least a portion of the stacked film strips are bonded together.
 59. The method of claim 51, further comprising arranging the film strips side-by-side and joining the film strips to a common base section to form a film strip composite.
 60. The method of claim 59, further comprising folding the film strip composite to form a film strip stack and joining the film strip stack to the holder.
 61. The method of claim 51, further comprising stacking the plurality of film strips one above the other and forming film strip clusters by attaching the stacked plurality of film strips to the holder.
 62. The method of claim 61, further comprising joining together base sections of the plurality of film strips.
 63. The method of claim 51, further comprising fastening the plurality of film strips to the holder by tamping the plurality of film strips into a recess in the holder. 